Recording the behavior, growth and antics of our foster animals.

Meet Panther

Panther (Tag #578140) is such an affectionate guy! He is about 10 or 11 years old and was originally brought into the Anti-Cruelty Society in the Fall of 2008 with his 2 cat siblings. The 3 of them were transferred to rehab because they got sick; during their illnesses Panther took wonderful care of his siblings, Goofy and Madison. Both Goofy and Madison were much more sick than Panther, and he made sure to give them daily baths and clean them off after they were given fluids. Unfortunately, Goofy and Madison died within days of one another. Once they were both gone, Panther shut down. He stopped eating and just sat in a corner in his cage. All of the staff members and volunteers were very worried about him, so Cody and I offered to bring him to our home to foster him. We hoped that if Panther was around other cats he would be able to get out of his depression.

It took 2 months, but he finally did!!! Cody had to syringe-feed him both morning and night for 8 weeks before he started eating on his own. During this time Panther just layed around and didn’t show much interest in anything. However, one weekend we came back from a short trip and lo and behold, Panther came running out of the bedroom to greet Cody. He also meowed (which was the first time we heard him do so)! Ever since that day (6 weeks ago now), Panther has eaten on his own and has followed us around our apartment looking for attention.

He absolutely loves getting petted. He meows if you aren’t looking at him, and if he is close enough, he reaches out and tries to pull your hand to his head. I don’t think he could ever get tired of being touched.

Right now we are still waiting for him to gain a bit more weight because he got really thin during his months of not eating. Luckily in the past 6 weeks his back leg muscles have returned and he is able to run around and jump up on things. His bones are also not sticking out as much. Soon he will be ready to live in his new forever home!!

The Anti-Cruelty Society Foster Blog is maintained by foster volunteers who are donating their time to help cats and dogs in need.
If you are interested in becoming a foster volunteer, or have a question about a featured pet, please contact us at foster@anticruelty.org
Additional details about our foster program can also be found on our website: www.anticruelty.org